


An Inseparable Pair

by SukalaAP



Category: Help! I'm A Fish (2000)
Genre: Alchemy, Alternate Universe, Angst, Best Friends, Blood and Violence, Buddies, Children, Cute Kids, Day At The Beach, Disturbing Themes, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Feels, Friendship, Heartbreaking, Mad Scientist, Original Character(s), POV Male Character, Sad Ending, Science Experiments, Science Fiction, Tearjerker, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tragedy, Unethical Experimentation, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SukalaAP/pseuds/SukalaAP
Summary: Plenty of little girls yearn for the companionship of an equine being and eventually earn their wishes. It is the case for Stella and the unbreakable bond she maintains with a special horse of marine origins. While the story revolves around the two, it is written from the point of view of Fly and Chuck, who for their part are introduced to the omitted experiments of MacKrill.
Relationships: Fly & Chuck, Fly & Stella, Stella & Sasha
Kudos: 5
Collections: Movie Fanfiction





	1. Thirst For A Friend

The blue sky is gradually switching to an eye-thrilling mixture of pink and yellow. It is a rather peaceful evening on this secluded part of town. Only the faint choir of birds and crickets is heard, unlike those other times where the chatter of people and cheering of children would fill the void much more, especially on special occasions. Soon enough, the sound of a working engine and rolling wheels would briefly exceed those noisy critters.

On the paved road, where on each side remains sidewalks, lined up street lamps, separate homes and white, wooden fences, is an SUV driving to its way home. It eventually reaches destination as it parks in front of a large, single house settled on a green hill along with very tall trees, which are heavily crowned with leaves, standing behind.

The motor stops and the door of the driver's seat swings open to reveal a sturdy grown-up man with long, dark blonde hair, in a navy blue jacket.

Another door, one from the passenger seat, opens up seconds after the previous one. From there comes out a young boy with a brown cap, plus a tuft of blonde hair sticking out underneath it, clothed in a pale gray shirt and a black and white pair of joggers, who carries a red backpack. We get a view of his white sneakers as he steps out.

They both shut the vehicle's doors and walk on the cemented pathway to their house. The boy catches up to his father and looks up to him with a smile. The older and taller man smiles back as his small eyes squinted with delight. He affectionately gives his son a firm but soft pat on the back. The 13-year old then runs past him to climb up in a few leaps to the doorstep. Without delay, he briskly turns the handle and invites himself in.

"Mom! We're home!" He declares as he takes his backpack off his shoulders and drops it next to him. He carefully scrubs his shoes on the carpet so that he won't get dirt everywhere when he steps further into the hallway.

"Hello, honey!" A casually dressed red-haired woman comes out of the kitchen to welcome her son back. "How was the game, sweetheart?" She asks him.

"Oh, it was great. We won!" He replies confidently, just as his father joins in and closes the door behind.

"Our boy really gave out his best shot out there." The father adds as he lays his hand on the teen's shoulder. "Always made sure his teammates kept up."

"That's incredible, dear! We're so proud of you."

"Fly!"

A 3-year old girl in overalls, with a beaming smile, pops out of the kitchen and arrives in a rush down the hall toward her older brother.

"Hey, Stella." He greets her.

She throws herself at him and wraps her arms around his neck. Fly lets out a sharp exhale when he feels her weight crash onto his torso. The girl's cheerfulness cracks a chuckle out of the parents. Despite the toddler's embrace delivered like a wrecking ball, Fly is just as glad to see his adorable little sister whose ginger hair is tied into pigtails, thanks to rubber bands adjunct with two plastic, purple pebbles. He grins gleefully as he holds her tightly between his arms.

"Ew!" Stella's grip suddenly loosens up. Being exposed to her brother's stench, she wrinkles her tiny nose in disgust and presses her hands against his chest to back away a little. This amuses Fly.

"Hahaha, yep! That's pretty much what playing sports is like! It's going to smell _baaad_!" He teases his sister by leaning his face closer to hers with a silly grimace, to which she giggles and playfully turns away in response.

"Which is why you're gonna hop to the shower, sport." Bill tells his son in a nudge.

"He'll do that later. Supper's going to be ready in any minute, now." Lisa indicates to her husband.

"Well, _that_ smells good. That's for sure." Fly jokingly states as he puts Stella back down.

"Fly! Daddy! I made a drawing!" The little girl exclaims eagerly.

"Oh really?" Inquires gentle giant Bill. "Are you going to show us, honey?"

"Of course! It's in the kitchen! I'm gonna go get it, okay? Wait here!"

She scampers back to the kitchen in a hasty manner, passing by her mother.

"Stella, wait! I put it away, I'll get it for you." She tells her before she goes in the room as well.

Bill and Fly are patiently waiting by the entryway of their home. What remains of daylight dimly pierces through the small window above the chocolate-brown door to shine on them.

"So Fly, do you have plans for your three days off school?" The man asks his son.

"Frankly, I don't know." He replies in a shrug. "Thought I could call a friend to hang out with or something like that. I'll figure out what else to do."

"Maybe we can go out fishing tomorrow?"

"Dad… You know how I feel about that now." He faintly reminds him as he looks down to his own rocking feet. Bill slightly winces in discomfort, his hand massaging the back of his neck.

"Right. Sorry."

"S'alright. Don't sweat it." The boy looks up to him and gives him a small, reassuring smile.

He can tell that his father misses doing that kind of father-son bonding activity with him, but still accepts the fact that he can no longer do so due to past going-ons. Fly cannot blame him since he really loves that sport as well, hence his nickname, but now it only calls him back to his misadventures; the two days where he was all scales and fins. Even if he does get back at it, who knows what would be impaled to his hook? Unlikely to happen, perhaps, but still…

Stella hurries back with a sheet of paper in her hand that she waves around like a flag.

"Careful, Stella!" Lisa softly calls out after her. "You'll crumple it!"

The toddler stops right in front of Bill and Fly, who both stoop down to her inquisitively.

"Here! Look!"

She grabs the loose half of the paper with her other hand, then holds the whole sheet up to her relatives for them to gaze upon her little masterpiece.

After a close inspection, it is clear to them that the image which Stella scribbled using markers is supposed to represent herself and her family being all happy, situated next to a house to the left. Among them, to the right, is two notable circles, a big and smaller one, with lines for hair and arms, and a stick figure. They are depicting her aunt Anna, her cousin Chuck and the Professor MacKrill.

Then finally, just right next to the stick figure portraying Stella, is a horizontal stick figure traced in green with vertical lines for legs.

"Oh wow! That looks really great, Stella!" Fly blithely praises his little sibling.

"Good job, darling! You're very talented!" Bill leans in closer to caress her head like the proud, loving father he is.

Lisa squats next to Stella after catching up to her. Everyone's eyes dazzle with bliss. The pigtailed toddler proceeds to point with her index finger the green, quadruped stick figure in her drawing.

"That's Sasha, right there! See?"

"Yeah! Definitely looks like her." Fly acknowledges, greatly pleased with his sister's sparkling enthusiasm.

It isn't the first time Stella drew the creature that charmed her a while back when she, Fly and their cousin Chuck discovered her in a rusty tin can. That's a thing she would most frequently put down on paper. Considering the past going-ons and the value Sasha has to them, Fly would not get tired of seeing them anytime soon.

"Do you want to have that one on the fridge, dear?" Lisa proposes to her daughter.

"Yeah!"

"Alright." She takes the sheet from Stella's hands before unfolding her legs to get back up. "Go wash your hands, kids. Supper must be ready by now."

"You heard her. Chop-chop!" Bill claps his hands to motivate them to do as mother told.

"C'mon Stella." Fly tells his sister as he holds her tiny hand. "We're not gonna leave those hands all grubby with markers, are we?" He gently pulls her closer to him as they both head to the bathroom.

* * *

His stomach filled, Fly can now lock himself in the bathroom to rid himself of the foul fragrance he gained from the football game. He turns the handle and pulls it down to where it says _hot_ to get himself a warm wash. Behind the blue curtain is the silhouette of the bare young teen standing in the bathtub while scrubbing every inch of himself under the flowing shower. He closes his eyes and raises his head to rinse his face, which has been spread with soap along with his body. Simultaneously, he lets his mind wander so that it can flourish with thoughts. A lot of questions are swarming in abundance around his skull like a shoal of fish trying to find a way out of their spherical tank.

What about the intelligent fish? How long would it take until the rest of the world finds out about their existence? Would they have to be sprayed with fish potion in order to be turned back to ordinary fish? Since they're practically people now, wouldn't that technically be considered some sort of genocide?

How the heck did the professor even combine a mouse with a fish?

Fly is so deeply invested in those concerning ideas that it obligates him to breathe in to lower down the pressure. Doing so almost brings him back to his underwater experience, when he dived into the depths of this gravity-defying world of wonders. An oceanic adventure that would've never happened had he not thrown a starfish, his own sister, out of a window. So many things he and his kin had to go through in order to get out of their situation; sentient sea creatures, the antidote and… **Joe.**

Fly swiftly pops back to reality when he feels water entering his nostrils. He reactively hunches himself and squeezes his pointy nose tightly as he coughs and nasally groans in pain.

_"Dang it! Not again!"_

After a few more minutes of corporal cleansing, he switches off the shower. He opens the curtain and we get sight of his bare, soaked feet stepping out of the tub and onto the soft, woollen bath mat of wavy patterns. We then see him from his upper body wiping his face and head like mad using a white towel. He proceeds with the rest of his body as he reveals his tousled hair in front of the mirror. Once all dry, he grabs his fish-patterned pajamas next to the sink and puts them on before swinging the door open to leave the steamy room.

The boy wanders through the hallway at an easygoing pace, heading towards the living room to play some video games. He stops when he overhears indistinct voices. He turns his head and figures out that they arise from upstairs. As he approaches the foot of the curved staircase, he recognizes his mother's voice, and then Stella's, who doesn't sound like she is in her happiest moment. Curious, Fly goes up there to see what's going on. Each step he takes, each word of dialogue becomes more intelligible.

"Honey, try to understand."

"It's not fair!"

"It's what's best for her. She has to stay with the professor for her safety."

Once he reaches the last step, Fly stumbles upon the slightly open door of Stella's room. He peeks inside and discerns his mother Lisa seated on her daughter's small bed next to a lit desk lamp. She tries to comfort the weeping little girl in her pink pajamas laying in a fetal position, whose hair is now freed from the grasp of her rubber bands for the night. The boy just stands outside, listening with concern to their discussion.

"Why can't the others see her? Sasha's not bad!" Stella asks through tears while she receives soothing head rubs from the caring woman.

"Of course she isn't. She's a very kind and lovely filly. She truly is special and there's no other one like her. Other folks would certainly think the same." She tells her with a tender smile that would soon disappear as she continues to explain. "The problem is that, well, not all of them would have good intentions towards her. Some may even steal her from us. This is why we can't take her out with us in public, or even at home. You understand, sweetheart?"

Stella remains silent for a moment, her watery eyes staring off into space and her clenched hands brought closer to her chin. She eventually nods in response after a few sniffles. Lisa leans towards her, gently sliding her wrists under her small weight and brings her to her loving arms. She slowly rocks her in her embrace.

"Don't worry, Stella." She reassures her as she passes her thumb below the toddler's eye to wipe her tear-flooded cheek. "We'll be able to see her at the professor's hideout soon. Don't know when, but we sure will pay her a visit anytime soon, alright?"

"Okay…" The little girl wearily utters.

She receives a kiss on the forehead from her mother, who keeps on rocking her.

"Mommy…" She murmurs to her.

"Yes, dear?"

"I'm thirsty."

"Your bottle is right here. Hold on."

Lisa puts her daughter back on her bed. She reaches out to the purple, water-filled bottle on the nightstand so that she can pass it to her precious cinnamon roll.

"Here. Try not to breathe in at the same time, okay?"

Stella holds it with both hands, with the mother's fingers nearly touching it to ensure she doesn't gulp down the wrong way. She starts drinking the bottle's content not only to satisfy her thirst, but also to appease the feeling of sadness that she's more prone of when she's tired.

Fly genuinely feels bad for his poor sister. He would join in to cheer her up as well like he usually does, but doesn't want to give her false hopes. He looks down, bummed out that he can't do much to help. It doesn't take long for him to widen his eyes and grow an optimistic smile, thanks to a solution that popped up in his brain. The boy moves away from the entrance and goes back down the stairs to solicit aid from his father, where Stella's ears wouldn't be open to another possible letdown. On his way there, he reflects on the things he is going to put forward to him.

_"It sure has been a while since we've last been at the professor's boathouse. He's been really busy with science stuff, which is kinda weird since he always welcomes us with open arms, and that even when he works on something. Guess he just wanted some time for himself. Now, I'll just go and ask dad to give him a call, see if we could spend some time there for the weekend. It's not like I got anything better to do. Plus it'll make Stella super happy! That's what matters the most."_

Fly steps into the living room and looks to the left. He spots his father from the back sitting in front of an old-school computer, which he uses for a bit of browsing. He walks in closer to him and stands by his side.

"Hey dad." He calls out after him.

A little startled at first, Bill turns to see him. "Hello, Fly. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if it we could go to the profess-"

The corded telephone next to Bill suddenly rings mid-sentence.

"Sorry Fly, one second." The older man picks it up, much to Fly's annoyance.

The blonde boy's shoulders loosen up, with a little disgruntled look to be read on his face as he averts his eyes. He now has to wait for his father to hang up so that he can resume the matter.

"Hello? …Oh! Good evening, MacKrill! How are you doing?"

Fly's eyes lit up. His attention is immediately brought back at the mention of the marine biologist's last name. With full interest, he carefully listens to Bill's replies to get clues of the conversation.

"Oh, we're doing great! So are the kids... No, we got nothing planned tomorrow, why? …Really? …We'd absolutely be thrilled!"

Fly smiles with great anticipation, already guessing what the professor just proposed.

"Who's on the phone, Bill?"

He hears his mother's voice at the entrance of the room and quickly turns to see her, with a broad grin stuck on his face.

"It's the professor MacKrill!" Bill responds as he gets up to face her. "He's inviting us to spend the afternoon at his place tomorrow!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It seems that Anna and Chuck will be there as well."

The professor's coincidental call is such a pleasant surprise to Fly. What is lacking now is the approval from both his parents, which he really hopes for.

"Can we go there, mom? It's been a while! It'll give Stella the chance to see Sasha too!"

Lisa does not pause to consider the idea of spending the remainder of the day at the spot where the man, whom they now consider a close friend, resides for she already knows what to respond to it.

"I don't see why we'd turn down that offer. We'll gladly go out there and have a good time tomorrow."

"Alright!" Fly exults, pumping his fist in the air. Bill smiles with delight before he draws his ear back to the handset.

"Tomorrow afternoon it is, then! We'll see you there! …Yes, we can't wait either! Have a good night, pal! You too! Bye!"

He hangs up the phone and then walks over to his son and wife.

"We're going to have ourselves a really nice day at the beach, with good ol' MacKrill." He states as he places his arms behind their backs and poses his hands firmly on their shoulders for a tight, loving embrace, to which they return the affection by huddling to him.

"A very nice weather is in the cards too." Lisa adds. "So we'll bring lunch for a picnic."

"We should go and tell Stella!" Fly keenly suggests.

"How about we keep it a surprise instead?" The red-haired lady proposes, at odds with her son's action point. "She's sleeping right now, but I'm sure she'd love to hear it by the morning."

The boy agrees in a shrug after a brief moment of thought. "Sure, okay!"

Fly presumes that it is indeed best for Stella to learn about what awaits her the following day, when the sun rises. Otherwise, the eagerness would most likely keep her up all night. Like his parents, the boy gladly looks forward to see what the professor has in store this time.


	2. Horsing Around

The sun shines up high in the cloudless, bright blue sky, thus marking the warm, nearing afternoon. The SUV travels throughout the road that leads to the secluded beach, where the professor dwells. Music from the vehicle’s stereo goes off louder as a large hand grasps the button to increase the volume. In the front seat, we see Bill behind the wheel with Lisa by his side, both smiling with glee. Bill adjusts the rear-view to take a gander at the back seat’s activity while Lisa turns around for the same intent. Stella, who is clothed with a tiny, coral pink dress, is bound to a booster seat, holding the sheet she drew on yesterday in her hands. The pigtailed toddler is bobbing her head to the upbeat song playing in the radio and tries to sing along to it.

“Woah-buh-dee-bubbah-dee-doo! Who-bub-dee-babbuh-dee-doo! Woh-bob-dee-bubbab-dee-doo, I love yoooou!”

Fly, now in brown-and-orange shorts and a black t-shirt with the Star Wars logo on it, is seated next to her and watches her enjoy herself. He is also bobbing his head, though not as briskly as his little sister is. Her jubilant behavior is something even he couldn’t avoid, very much to his pleasure. The boy looks out to the partially open car window, his hair-poofle beneath his cap flapping in the wind. He takes in the view of the vast, flat lands lush in green, and sees as street lamps come and go by. He smiles even more when he discerns a lighthouse up ahead they will soon pass by, indicating that they will be there soon enough.

They eventually arrive at their desired destination as they park only a few meters away from the big sandy hill. Once they all have stepped out of the vehicle, the parents focus on their tiny little tasks; Bill lifts the trunk open to grab on the picnic baskets and towels while Lisa unfastens her daughter’s seatbelt to carry her in her arms. She puts her down on the floor before she goes to help out her husband. The little girl eagerly wanders not too far away with her arms extended to maintain her balance as she moves, one of her hands gripped on her drawing too.

“Stella, wait up!” Fly calls out after his sister.

He catches up to her in a short jog. He walks alongside her as he holds her free hand to ensure her safety when they both move down the slope. Their parents soon follow them behind, each of them carrying a basket and wearing two towels on their shoulders. The family of four stride through the beach near the seaside, on their way to the next stop; a large, pointy cliff linked to an isle that is only reachable by taking a few risky steps on a bridge of separate rocks poking out of water.

As they get closer to there, we see the two children walking ahead of their parents, their hands still holding on tight. In his steps, Fly looks over to Stella. She paces in a rather endearing manner, swinging each leg before its foot land on to the ground, while humming the tune from earlier to herself. Honestly, can she get any more precious than that?

Eventually, after leaving behind a long trail of invisible footsteps in the warm sand, they hear someone calling for them.

“Hello! Hellooo!”

Fly turns his attention away from his little sister and onto the source of this jolly voice. In a short distance, a thin middle-aged man in black shorts and a sleeveless shirt is standing there, frantically waving at him and his relatives. He is characterized by his big balding head, where three sections of red hair remain, a pair of half-rimmed glasses installed on his big nose and a wide, amiable smile.

“Hi!” Stella waves back at him with the hand that is holding the sheet.

“Hey professor!” Fly greets him with a two-fingered hand gesture.

Along with this friendly isle-dweller are two other people seated on a towel, gleefully welcoming the newcomers as well. Their round shapes drastically contrast with the man’s twig-like physique. One is a large woman in a one-piece purple swimwear, rocking sunglasses and a sun hat while applying sunscreen on her arms. The other in front is her son, a short and chubby young boy in camo shorts, with round spectacles to reflect his intellect, who stands up at the sight of his arriving close ones.

“Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad you could make it!” The professor cheers as he hastens towards them, chortling merrily.

On the run, he yelps and loses his balance when he steps on a half-buried bottle. He staggers for a moment, then ends up crashing to the ground on his back. The witnesses can’t help but burst into laughter from the man’s clumsy stunt. Bill and Lisa put down their baskets and hurriedly go to his aid. The professor mumbles out some things as he sits back up and rubs the top of his head. It appears that he has lost his glasses during his fall, but doesn’t seem really fazed by it. He slowly gets pulled back onto his feet, mostly by the taller, kind-hearted man.

“Are you alright?” Bill asks him while his wife dusts off the sand in the thin man’s hair.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine!” He replies assuredly, still feeling a bit light-headed from his stumble. Once his consciousness has fully resurfaced, he reaches out to them both for a tight embrace. “Oh, it’s simply wonderful to have all of you here!”

To this, the couple chuckles with delight and hugs him back.

“It’s really nice to see you too, MacKrill!” Lisa pleasantly smiles.

The overweight lady, who got up and walked over to the group with her son in front of her, picks up the empty beer bottle that the professor tripped on. She lifts her sunglasses and glares at it with indignation.

“Hmph. The nerve of some people.” She snorts. “They should be fined for this.”

“Yes, they could use a little more responsibility than that.” Lisa agrees in a sigh before she approaches her and opens her arms for an affectionate greeting. “Well hello to you, Anna!”

“Hello, Lisa.” Just like that, her frown is quickly replaced with a red-lipped smile that is decorated with a beauty mark below as she hugs Lisa.

“You’ve lost your glasses.” Bill points out to the shorter man. “Hang on, they mustn’t be really far.”

He proceeds to lean down to scrutinize the sandy floor, looking for MacKrill’s ocular gear. Anna’s son joins in the search as well.

“It’s alright, Bill!” The professor lightheartedly chuckles to him as he lightly pats his back. “I don’t always need them, I mostly have them on for work. I do believe that having some friends to visit isn’t much work to be invested in either! Hehe! Well, aside from a bit of home cleaning of course. Heh.”

“I got them. Here.”

The young boy, who looked for the glasses along with Bill, hands them over to their owner after finding them and picking them up.

“Oh! Thank you, Professor Chuck!” He reclaims them, then gives his helper a soft pat on the back.

Fly goes to join this pleasant little reunion, but Stella, who lets go of his hand, outraces him as she eagerly rushes towards them. The little girl approaches MacKrill and gently pulls his shorts to get his attention.

“Professor! Professor!” She calls him while excitedly bouncing up and down.

“Uh? Whu-what?” He blurts out. He notices her standing at his feet and bends over to her. “Oh! Hello, little lady! How are you today?”

“I made a drawing for Sasha! Look!” She readily exposes her work to him.

“You have? Oooo, let’s see that!”

The old man grabs the sheet from her hands so that he can hold it with his own. He closely looks into it with Chuck. He tries hard to decipher the image he is squinting at, but his troubled vision is given away by several blinks.

“Er, I may actually need my glasses to see this one clearly.”

“You… You already have them on.” Chuck points out to him.

“Oh! Right, of course! How silly of me! But somehow, I can’t quite make out what this is supposed to be.”

“It’s all of us together!” Stella explains. “We live in a house together!”

“Hmm… I can’t quite see it yet, hold on.” MacKrill remains silent for a moment to scan carefully each aspect of the drawing.

“That’s a really nice drawing, Stella! Good job!” Chuck says to her with a kind smile while the professor is still focused on his meticulous analysis.

Right after he complimented her, he sees Fly coming towards him, who throws a cheeky look at his direction. Chuck lets out an amused puff before he goes to greet his high-spirited cousin.

“Sup, Chuck.”

“Hey Fly.”

The two boys, whose bond strengthened from their past circumstances despite being physically and inwardly different from one another, are both reaching out for a firm handshake. While Chuck lends his hand, Fly abruptly pulls away his own.

“There’s no buzzer this time, right?” He skeptically points at him.

“Come on, it was funny once. There’s no point pulling that one again.”

“…Alright.” Fairly convinced by his words, Fly ends up giving in and tightly grasps his cousin’s hand.

“No promises for when we’re underwater, though.”

“Pfff, yeah right.”

Meanwhile, MacKrill finally figures out Stella’s drawing after a close inspection.

“Ooh, yes, yes, I can see it now! Golly, that is indeed an amazing depiction of all of us gathered here! Especially coming from such a sweet little girl!” He bends over again to the small artist to hand her back her little masterpiece, with a gentle head pat to add.

MacKrill may have been spending most of his life away from the rest of the world, which certainly affects his social abilities, but with a bit of help from the people he gained contact with since his successful invention of the fish potion, he clearly has been making some progress. And he is still as outgoing as ever despite the short-term hiatus.

“Well now! Everyone!” He speaks up as he straightens up, earning everyone’s attention. “My stomach is rumbling at this moment! So now that we’re all gathered here, how about we settle down and open up our baskets?”

Everyone gleefully agrees. Bill goes to retrieve the two baskets he and Lisa left behind. MacKrill prepares to get his hands on his own basket, but is held back by Stella in his steps, who once again pulls his shorts.

“Professor! Professor wait!”

“Uh? What is it?” As he turns back to her.

“Can I see Sasha? I want her to see my drawing too!” Once again, she is excitedly bouncing up and down.

“Err… Well I…”

“Come on, sweetie.” Lisa says to her daughter as she approaches her. “We’ve got to eat first.”

“Yes, exactly! Got to eat first, like your mother says.” MacKrill repeats in agreement.

“But I want to see Sasha first!” The little girl complains.

“You’ll be able to see her after we’re all done eating.” Lisa softly asserts to her, crouching down at the child’s height. “Come on now. I’m sure you’re better off riding her with a full tummy, right sweetie?”

The gentle woman wraps her caring arms around Stella’s waist to lift her foot from the ground. While holding the pouting toddler up to her shoulder, she waits for Bill to come back with the baskets so that she can prepare the towels they’ll rest and feast on with him. On his way back, Bill passes by Fly and Chuck a second time and decides to drop them a little word of encouragement.

“Well, you boys better get going.”

“Of course, dad.”

“Let’s go, Fly.” Chuck prompts his cousin as he walks ahead of him.

“I think I got it the first time already.” The thinner boy teases him while tagging along.

“Haha. So what you’re having for dinner, ‘Einstein’?”

“My mom packed me a ham sandwich. What about you?”

“A bagel... Two bagels, maybe.”

* * *

The air gets warmer as Fly bites into his sandwich, which consists of only a few bits left until all that remains is the crust. The young boy is seated on a towel of his own while holding the sandwich in a single hand, maintaining his upper body with the other pressed to the floor, with a soda can lying next to his resting legs. It is shown that he is settled right in front of his parents as he turns back to see them, who for their part are having a pleasant conversation with Anna and the professor, and are nearly done with their outdoor meal themselves. Little Stella is notably sipping a star-patterned baby bottle filled with actual lemonade, with her mother keeping watch on her while she does so. She eventually finishes the bottle, satisfyingly licking her sweet, drenched lips.

“Are you done, honey?” Lisa asks her daughter.

“Yep! All done!”

“Good.” The red-haired lady in her black bikini with white dots reaches her hand to take the bottle from Stella’s hands. Immediately after, the child stands up and glances at the cliff-linked isle not far from the spot they are relaxing in.

“Can we go now?” She asks her mom, whose mouth is currently unavailable for speech since it is occupied drinking soda from a can. “I want to see Sasha!”

“Not yet, Stella.” Bill replies. “We’re still eating. But don’t worry, you’ll get to see Sasha soon after, okay?” Lisa nods in agreement.

“Kay…” The little girl begrudgingly sits back down.

She looks over to her pile of old gen little ponies next to her and proceeds to pick up one that really stands out from its plastic counterparts. It is the wooden horse that she found during the fishy journey before retrieving it in the course of a willful underwater trip. It has since been renewed with a coat of paint and has a tiny twig glued to fix its broken hind leg. She makes the timber toy simulate the act of galloping before letting it go for it to stand on its own. It unfortunately ends up falling to the side. Stella puts it back on its hooves, but the same result ensues to her disappointment.

Fly eventually turns around to face the sea again. He contemplates his sandwich for a moment before deciding that he is satiated and drops it back onto the Styrofoam plate. Instead of going over to his sister and entertain her, figuring everyone will soon be ready to move anyway, the boy prefers to take in the view of this gigantic pool filled with the earth’s essence, where each wave rocked by the wind sparkles from the radiant sunlight. His shower thoughts from last night float around his skull once again.

“Hey Fly.”

The blonde boy turns to see his dark brown-haired cousin walking towards him with the friendliest of all smiles.

“Hey Chuck.”

“You seemed kinda left out, so I thought I could hang around you for a bit.”

Fly gladly scoots over to leave a spot on his towel for Chuck to sit on.

“How thoughtful of you.” The cap-wearing kid acknowledges.

“To be fair, I’m the one who thinks the most here.”

“Don’t be so smug, show-off!” He gives his cousin a mild shoulder punch in response to his sassy statement.

“Hey, you’re one to talk!” Chuck lets out a chuckle, rubbing his slightly aching shoulder. While following up their conversation, the boys both gaze at the sea. “Speaking of which, you did seem to be a bit lost in thoughts. Mind telling me what you were pondering about?”

“Eh, it’s nothing. Just been thinking about the adventure we had out there, when we were fish.”

“I see. There’s no way we could ever forget this experience, nor do we really want to. Right?”

“Well, there are some parts of it I wish would stop keeping me up at night.”

Fly faintly looks down to his folded knees, with his cousin looking at him, compassion to be read on his face.

“Hm. I know.” Chuck looks away, feeling awfully sorry for what his friend had to go through, especially during their final moments under the potion’s influence. It’s clear as day that Fly can never bring it up in therapy and has to live with it, which doesn’t help. But his family’s support is quite sufficient to him, or at least that’s what he likes to convince himself.

“I still don’t regret any of it though.” The boy adds with a restored smile, his eyes darting back at the beautiful view ahead. “It was still really cool seeing the world under the sea without any gear needed! Heck, we can definitely go back there! All we have to do is ask the professor for some potion.”

“Of course! We can do it safely now that I have this waterproof watch.”

Chuck shows the said object he wears on his wrist. It wasn’t the same one he had found and carried around his waist during their misadventure since it had broken into pieces when they all changed back to their human selves. He simply bought another one, just in case.

“Also,” Chuck continues, “we’ve got marine creatures that have been exposed to the side effects of the antidote that need to be researched on, see how they are evolving on their own after Joe’s reign.”

“Yeah, that too! Could also be fun talking to some of them-”

“Alright kids!”

The kids both jolt when they feel a hand each on their shoulders, with a lively voice chiming in at the same time. They turn back to see MacKrill leaning towards them, with a grin as broad as ever.

“Ready to go to my isle? I’ve got plenty of things to show you!”

* * *

Their stuff packed up, the group of seven are set to move towards the rocky pathway to the other land, which requires a solid balance to cross it. The low, tranquil tide would contribute to the easiness of their task. Being in lead of the short trip, the professor is the first one to take on the first step, then slowly shifts from one rock to the other. Some of his followers, including Chuck, apparently have a little more hassle to travel, but still manage to remain on their tracks without crashing into the water. Fly, who doesn’t seem to have much trouble about it at all, swiftly skips on each rock while carrying his giggling little sister in one of his arms. He does pause for a moment to wait for the others behind him to catch up.

“Be careful, Charles!” Anna advises to her son moving unsteadily in front. “Don’t make me regret leaving your armbands at home!”

“Mom, I’m twelve. I-I’ll be alright.” The chunky boy assures her before dropping a foot onto the next rock.

Daylight bursts into the cliff’s interior as a door that blends with the rocky walls swings open. Everyone enters the secret passage by walking down the creaky wooden stairs. They pass through the tenebrous and spacious cave tunnel, guided by the lit lanterns hanging from the ceilings where stalagmites also remain.

Eventually, the atmosphere lightens up again when the folks reach the core of the inner cliffs where is settled MacKrill’s distorted boathouse, which is accessible through a very long dock with a massive resurgence in the background. What is much closer to the arrival’s reach is a shelter built by Bill and MacKrill for the land seahorse; a wooden stable circled by a wire fence tied to nets floating in the shallows.

The professor proceeds towards the fence while his guests stay behind by his gestured request. He opens the gate and takes a few steps into the enclosure. He brings his hand to his mouth and blows on his fingers several times to summon the filly. He manages to emit a sharp whistle in the fifth attempt. Fly smiles mirthfully when he eyes over his eager little sister beside him, who then lets out a keen little gasp that induces him to turn and see the one thing that captivates her sparkling eyes.

There she is at last. The loveliest of all horses, highly recognizable by her unique turquoise coat, her Mohawk-styled mane and her buck-teeth, walks out of her home.

“Sasha!”

The little girl immediately hurries towards the land seahorse, who joyfully reacts to her presence and canters towards her. Laughter and happy neighs echoes in the cave as the two reunited friends run in circles, chasing after one another, before standing face to face. Sasha leans in for Stella to affectionately wrap her arms around her neck. The transmuted seahorse then pokes her with her snout to get her head stroked as well. This heartwarming sight absolutely delights the whole family, just as much as the day Stella first got to ride the seahorse out of water. Fly and Chuck join in to greet the equine of marine origins.

“Hey Sasha! Been a while, huh?” The blonde boy lends his hand to the land seahorse, who turns to the two boys. She gladly receives head rubs from Fly. “Yeah, we missed you too.”

“Hello Sasha!” Chuck also holds out his hand to her, but instead gets it licked whole. “Erhk!” He lets out as he squints at his drool-drenched hand. Fly cackles from his cousin’s treatment.

“Wow Chuck, she really likes you! I don't think she's ever licked-”

His hilarity is cut short by that same slobbery tongue that crosses through his hair tuft, making it point upward along with his cap. The boy freezes in instant stupefaction.

“…Oh.”

Chuck, Stella and everyone else present in the surroundings are passed the torch to laugh it off.

“Well Fly, she doesn’t seem to play favourites here.” He smirks at him.

“She didn’t lick Stella, though!”

“She doesn’t count.”

“Hm, fair.” Fly shrugs while replacing his hair and hat. “I don't mind though. It’s kinda like getting kisses from grandma.” He adds with an endearing smile.

“Mommy!” Stella quickly dashes towards the adults behind. “Mommy, give me my drawing! I have to show Sasha!”

“I’ve got it, dear. Here.” Bill hands the sheet over to her. He and his wife watch fondly as their sweet little girl hurries back to the other children and their quadruped companion.

“Look Sasha!”

While the toddler is occupied in sharing her work with the seahorse, Fly and Chuck lend their ears to the conversation of the grown-ups.

“We need to come here more often.” Lisa begins. “It’s so nice here, and it makes our children really happy.”

“I couldn’t agree more, honey.” Bill responds. “Especially with such a brilliant marine biologist like good ol’ MacKrill here.” He adds while swinging his hand in the professor’s direction. The sympathetic man’s praise cracks a chortle out of the kooky scientist.

“Well I’m absolutely thrilled to have such good people to share those experiments of mine with! I just simply couldn’t keep them for my own eyes forever, but am I lucky to have you all to keep me company from time to time!”

“Speaking of which, I feel kinda bad for Sasha.” The cap-wearing boy speaks up.

“How so, Fly?” Lisa asks her son, sharing an inquisitive look with her husband.

“I mean, she has to be kept from being seen by the public and live here with nobody but the professor around. Sure, he takes really good care of her and allows her to trot around the isle, but it’s not the same when we’re not with her. It must be really lonely for her.”

While the others understand where he is getting at with his concern, to everyone’s baffling surprise, MacKrill just guffaws out loud.

“Oh, what a marvelous coincidence!” The old man eagerly exclaims. “I was just about to mention that! As a matter of fact, she now has a friend of her own!”

“A friend?” Fly repeats, intrigued by the professor’s sudden revelation.

“Really?” Chuck is just as hooked as his cousin.

This instantly captures Stella’s attention as she was explaining her magnum opus to her filly pal. Her head briskly turns to the discussion, her eyes as wide as the cave’s resurgence.

“Yes, yes! But keep it down.” MacKrill tells his guests with a softened tone and hand gestures. “This fella’s quite shy and isn’t used to have many visitors yet. So bear with me while I get him to come out of his shell. Oh, and keep your distances too as not to frighten him.”

He heads back to the fence in front of his attentive audience, who gathered to observe. He opens the gate again, this time closing it behind even more so gently. Once inside the enclosure, the man sets himself in front of the stable and pulls out a carrot from one of his pockets. He crouches and hands it to whatever hides inside, speaking softly and making clicking noises with his tongue and teeth in order to reassure it. The others quietly wait for the unidentified creature to show itself for a few moments.

Prompted by her tiny grunts, Fly looks over to Stella, who was visibly struggling to get onto Sasha, and lifts her up to help her out. But as soon as the toddler’s feet lose touch with the earth and is held in the air by her big brother, the blue/green horse lies down to the ground, apparently understanding her motives. Fly shrugs in amusement and installs the little girl on Sasha’s back anyway. The horse stands back up once the girl is seated on her back.

Eventually, a snout pops up first, with large, vertical nostrils repeatedly enlarging and narrowing themselves as it sniffs the carrot. The sight of it captivates the public, especially the kids. Chuck adjusts his glasses in order to attentively witness the scene, while Fly shushes the excited little girl who squeaks at the sight of this happening. The professor slowly backs away to get the creature to follow him. And now, from the shed it arises and finally reveals itself in its entirety; a land seahorse.

Another land seahorse, which fills the witnesses with sheer surprise and endearment. They are given some time to scrutinize the animal’s every aspects that differentiates him from Sasha while he crunches on the orange vegetable held by the professor. That horse seems a little taller with more angular features in contrast to Sasha’s round shapes, and his coat is more of a green/yellow hue. His mane is scruffier and his snout, where his upper lip hangs down, is longer.

“That’s it. There, there. Good boy.” MacKrill murmurs to him with delight.

As she observes the scene with irrepressible glee, Stella suddenly feels a tingle on her nose that urges her to gasp before ending up sneezing abruptly. In doing so, she alerts the land seahorse, who quickly turns to notice his visitors. Fly quickly catches the sheet before it descends to the ground after Stella lose hold of it the moment she sneezed. Agitated by the presence of unknown people, the equine flips his ears backward and backs away. The professor tries to comfort him.

“Easy there, fella. They are friends.”

Sasha walks over to her new companion in the enclosure, with Stella still seated on her back. She stops at the wire fence and calls for him in a soft, squeaky neigh. The other seahorse simmers down a little and approaches her. He stops and stares at her, seemingly a bit more at ease with her presence as he perks his ears and smells her. That is until he gets startled by Stella’s head popping up from behind Sasha’s neck with a radiant smile.

“Hi!” She says to him.

The little girl lends her hand to him, but the land seahorse sharply nickers and runs away. He goes back to the shed to get himself out of sight once again.

“Like I said, he’s quite shy.” MacKrill chuckles. “But I can guarantee that he’ll get used to having guests! Heheh! Eventually.”

“How… How did you do it?” Chuck asks him curiously, taking a step forward. “Was it the same process we went through for Sasha?”

“Yes! Exactly, Professor Chuck!” He blithely replies. “The DNA strand and everything! I found this fella in a shallow, kelp-ridden area among some of his kind, and thought he’d make a great companion for Sasha, as well as yet another subject to experiment on!”

“Hopefully it’s the last one.” Anna steps in next to her son. “I think two of them is just more than enough to keep an eye on! Listen professor, everything you do is phenomenal. There’s absolutely no denying that. But heaven forbid if any of your experiments somehow escape to be exposed by the government!”

“Anna has a point, MacKrill.” Lisa adds. “We cannot unveil your research at the risk of getting exploited by the wrong hands. Not yet, at least.”

MacKrill is silent for a moment, his mouth slightly agape. Knowing him better now, Fly, Chuck and pretty much everyone else can tell that he is taking his time to process their concerns.

“Well… Yes, of course! I perfectly understand that!” He finally acknowledges. “The world currently doesn’t need their lifebuoy, so my work of a lifetime will still remain a secret. But I’m not getting any younger these days, and I won’t be around the day the supply I’ve concocted will be depended on. Then…”

The professor then eyes over Anna’s son, dimples showing up on his cheeks as he warmly smiles at him.

“Perhaps I can trust a fresh young face, with a passion and ambition similar to mine, to carry on my research one day. That is if that’s a responsibility he’s willing to take, of course.”

Chuck shyly smiles back, feeling both nervous and honored to be offered that kind of future. He looks up to his mother to get her thoughts. She nods in approval, a proud look to be read in her delighted eyes. The boy happily turns back to face the older man.

“I won’t disappoint you, professor.” He replies confidently.

“I know you won’t, my little prodigy.”

Pride for the novice scientist runs through his assisting family members. It is especially read on Fly’s assured face. Someday, his nerdy cousin is going to be a great marine biologist as well. Honestly, what’s not to like about that?

“Look! Look! He’s looking at me!” Stella calls for the group.

The little girl is still seated on Sasha’s back, keeping watch on the timid horse hiding in the stable. Only his head is seen halfway past the entrance as he warily stares at the witnesses.

“See?” Stella giggles as the rest of the group approaches her, with Fly notably standing next to her, his elbows leaning on the fence. “He wants to be my friend!”

“I’m sure he does, Stella.” Bills pats his daughter’s back gently in response to her charming innocence.

“What’s his name, professor?” Fly asks the kooky scientist.

“Oh, erm… I did not give him a name, actually. But you know, I thought I’d give Stella the honor to name him herself!” The older man lightheartedly replies.

“Wow, really?” Fly is pleasantly surprised.

“Of course!”

“You hear that, Stella?” The boy turns to his sister. “You get to name another one! Isn’t that great?”

The pigtailed girl’s response is evinced by intensifying bounces of excitement.

“Aww, what a spoiled little dear.” Anna remarks with amusement.

“So what’s it gonna be, Stella?” Fly asks her.

“Freddie!” Stella immediately says out loud. “I’m gonna call him Freddie!”

“Oh, like the character from the game we play on the computer?”

“Yeah!” She gleefully responds.

“To be fair, he does kinda look like a Freddie.” Bill notices. “Well, except that the stache’s missing.” The group can’t help but crack a chuckle from his silly statement. “Freddie it is, then!”

“So, professor?” Chuck begins to address the older man. “We wanted to ask you something.”

Fly immediately turns to see the two engage in conversation, already guessing the subject matter.

“But of course, Professor Chuck! What is it?”

“Well, it’s probably going to be a little straightforward, but we were wondering if we could go on an underwater expedition today?”

“Yeah! Got any fish potion?” Fly inquires him as he quickly steps next to his smaller cousin. “I’m totally up to see how the fish folks are doing!”

“Oh! It’s a splendid thing that you asked! It would certainly be ideal to pursue the research on the intelligent sea creatures. But only, um…” The old man presses his hands against each other as he proceeds. “You see, I’m unfortunately out of most of the required ingredients to make fish potion. I haven’t been thinking to furnish any, recently.” MacKrill gestures his apology in a shrug.

“Aw man.” Fly mutters, looking down in minor disappointment.

“I see.” Chuck recognizes. “But we still cou-”

“But!”

The young boys both flinch when the professor interrupts and swings his bony finger.

“I’ve recently been called back to some previous experimentations of mine, which I haven’t shared yet. And today, ladies and gentlemen, I have gathered you here because I simply couldn’t contain myself from exposing them any longer! I’m inviting you all to take a peek into my boathouse to come and see the outcomes!”

Everyone seems intrigued by the scientist’s proposition.

“Well, gang!” Bill firmly claps his hands with enthusiasm. “We certainly aren’t going to stand there all day, right?”

In agreement, they all started to follow MacKrill towards the dock. That is except for Fly who stops and looks at his parents staying behind near the fence. Bill opens the gate while Lisa grabs her daughter.

“I wanna stay with Freddie and Sasha!” Stella complains while being held in the air, her arm stretching down at the land seahorse she was seated on.

“Come on, Stella. Don’t you want to see what the professor made?” Says the red-haired woman as she settles the toddler comfortably in her arms. “I’m sure he has something really nice to show us. Don’t worry love, we’ll come back to see Freddie and Sasha soon after.”

Bill whistles to get Sasha to walk back into the enclosure. And so she does while the tall man gently leads her inside by hand. After he closes the gate behind her, the turquoise-coated equine turns around to watch as the people leave. Only Stella, who’s being held up to her mother’s shoulder, is the one whose eyes are locked on her. To the little girl, her filly pal seems to get gradually smaller the farther she gets from her. Sasha whines softly, visibly not too keen on the idea of being left alone once again.

Once the visitors are now halfway across the dock as their large shadows of various shapes paint the cliff walls, the newly-named Freddie slowly comes out of the stable and stands behind Sasha to watch them far off with her. After making sure they are no longer a disturbance to him, he moves away a little to pick up some patches of hay across the floor. Sasha on the other hand, is still standing there.

Although she shares the same bit of earth as the other horse, she still longs for the return of her Stella.


End file.
